Safety-gate for railway-crossings



(No Model.) 2 Sheets--Sheet 1.

W. HANLEY. SAFETY GATE FOR RAILWAY GROSSINGS. No. 338,063. Patented Mar. 16, 1886.

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(Nd Model.) Y 2 Sheets-Shet 2. W. HANLEY.

SAFETY GATE FOR RAILWAY GROSSINGS. No. 338,063. Patented Mar. 16. 1886.

III

UNITED STATES PATENT @rrrcs.

\ VILLIAM HANLEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SAFETY-GATE FOR RAILWAY-CROSSINGS.

SPECIPIICATZGN forming part of Letters Patent No. 338,063, dated March 16, 1886.

Application filed Ju y 18, 1885. Serial No. 171,933. (So model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, XVILLIAM HANLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and Improved Safety-Gate for Railway-Crossings; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to the class of gates now in quite common use upon the crossings of railroads, which all contain the feature of vertically-swinging bars upon posts, though the manner of actuating the bars ditl'ers very materially in the various gates belonging to the one genus; and it relates, particularly, to the means -I employ to actuate the bars for the purpose of raising and lowering them and to the construction of the bars themselves.

A serious objection which attends the use of gates of the foregoing description consists in the fact that the mechanism used to cause the bars upon posts in line with each other upon the same side of a track to move in unison is commonly placed underground, which entails the inconvenience of tearing up the street for adjusting the mechanism originally and for repairing it whenever it gets out of order, as it frequently does from several causes, principal among which is the action of frost in winter. The wi ndalso,whenit blows with any material degree of force, affords a hitherto insurmountable obstacle to the properly smooth and regular movement of the gatebars, as it exerts its force against their surfaces either longitudinallyz'. 6., in the direction of the motion of one and in the contrary direction of that of its companion-or laterally, and thereby produces so much strain upon the parts as to seriously injure them in a comparatively short time.

It is my object to provide a construction of gate whereby these difficulties shall be avoided, and whereby a unique device shall be atforded, comprising great simplicity in its construction and mode of operation and entailing little expense for its manufacture.

To this end my invention consists in my construction of gate bar, and in the mechanism by which the gate-bars are actuated.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 repre sents one of my improved gates in elevation,

showing by dotted lines the position of the bars and controlling parts when the gate is closed. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a bar of my improved construction pivoted between vertical standards forming a post. one side of which is broken away to display details of the bar, and Fig. 3 a top View of the Windlass by means of which the bars are actuated.

A is a portion of a gate-bar formed, preferably, of a continuous piece of timber about two inches thick and twelve inches wide, but

tapered toward one extremity, so as to deof the board so formed is mortised and secured by bolts, as shown, to the part A, comprising, preferably, a solid piece of wood sufficiently heavy to counterbalance the part A when the gate-bar is pivoted-at its base to swing upon a post, 0 or C, as shown. If desired, instead of forming the part A of a single piece, it may be built 01" separate parts secured together to afford the construction represented. It will be seen that with this construction of the gate-bars they are not only rendered very light, whereby it need take but little power to raise and lower them, but the wind cannot interfere with their operation or in any way affect them materially, since it will meet with but little rcsisting'surface either on their narrow edges or on their sides, through which it is allowed to pass with but slight impediment.

Two barsare pivoted to form agate through their bases, as shown, upon posts in line with each other upon the same side of a railroad crossing, being adjusted to swing vertically toward and from each other. The posts may comprise each two parallel vertical standards,- as clearly represented in Fig. 3, and may be provided with an inclosing-side at the rear, if

desired; or any other suitable form of post may be employed. The minimum height ot'the posts must, however, be such as to come within municipal requirements in such matters and permit the ready passage underneath an imaginary line joining their upper extremities of wall objects liable to move over the crossing.

part A of the-gate-bar that it does on the op posite side; butthe rods are of varying lengths, that in the middle beingthe longest. A cable, q. is fastened at one extremity to the tapered extremity of the gate-bar on each side of the same, and extends backward through the eyes 1" onthe rods 1", forming an angular line to the base A, where it is secured at its opposite end, atightening-screw,p, ofcommon construction forming a link in each cable for the purpose of permitting its tension tobe regulated. This construction affords strength to the gate-bar, which thus may be constructed with a view to the attainment of lightness with out being too frail.

Toward the upper end of the post 0 a cylindrical pulley, B, is secured to oscillate up on its bearings in a vertical plane, and a ca ble, 0, secured at one extremity to one gatebar toward the rear end of the part A there of below the center of gravity of the gate-bar, passes around the pulley and proceeds from its under side over a small pulley, n, on the opposite post to the gate bar thereon, to which it is secured upon the part A above the cen.

ter of gravity, and a similar cable, 0, is socured at one end to the part A of the gate bar below the center of gravity of the latter on the post 0, and extends over a pulley, a, on the same post to the pulley 13, over which it passes to the gate-bar on the post 0, where it is secured upon the part A thereof above its center of gravity. It will thus be seen that the raising or lowering of the gate-bar on the post 0 will simultaneously raise or lower that upon the post 0. A windlass, D, is connected with the pulleyB to operate the gate-bars by means of a rope, D, which is wound at its center once from above around the barrel of the windlass, and is secured at each end upon the periphery of the pulley B at a point beyond a vertical line passed through its center when in its normal position with the gate-bars raised. Thus the left-hand strand of the cable D, as shown in Fig. 1, would be fastened at its extremity to the point an on the pulley B, and the right-hand strand at the point x.

The windlass D, which may be near the post 0, as shown, or away from it, if desired, when the rope D could pass from it to the pulley B over small pulleys suitably located, comprises a barrel portion, m upon a shaft, m, supported in a suitable frame, In, and operated by a winch, Two dogs, Z, are pivoted to the frame I: on oppositesides and to ward opposite extremities of the barrel m to engage in contrary directions with ratchetteeth Z around the shaft m, one of whichdogs will always have to be raised when the windlass is to be rotated.

Since the pulley B has only to describe a quarter ofa circle in raising or lowering the gate-bars, the windlass, to effect either operation with one complete revolution, need be only of a diameter equal to one-fourth that of.

them over suitable pulleys placed upon' the,

post O,underneath the pulley B,and ata right angle to it, with which their ends could be connected. Ordinarily, however, it will be desired to employ a separate windlass for each gate when the gates can be operatedindependent-1y of each other. Of course, in the latter case, the winches should be located in -sufficient proximity to each other to permit both to be worked at the same time by th same operator.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A safety-gate for railway-crossings, comprising, in combination, vertically-swinging gate-bars mounted upon posts in line with each other on the same side of a railway-track, pulleys n and n, provided on one post, and a pulley, B, provided'on another post, and cables passing over the said pulleys and con nected to the several bars at opposite sides of the pivotal points thereof, whereby both bars shall be raised or lowered simultaneously by raising or lowering one bar, as set forth.

2. A safety'gate for railway-crossings, comprising, in combination, vertically-swinging bars on posts in line with each other on the same side of a railroad-track, a pulley, B, on

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one post toward its upper extremity, and pulf leys n n on the opposite post, the cables connecting the said bars each attached at its opposite ends toopposite sides of the pivotal points of the bars and passing over the pulley B and pulleys n n, and a windlass connect-ed -with the pulley B, whereby by turning the windlass in one direction the bars will .be si-.

to the ends of the rods 1', the solid base A,

secured to oscillate upon its bearings in a ver tical plane upon the post 0 toward its upper end, a cable, 0, secured at one end to the part A of the gate-bar and passing around the pulley B over a pulley, n, upon the post 0 to the gate bar thereon, to which it is secured at the part A, a cable, 0, secured at one end to the part A of 'the gatebar on the post 0, and passing thence over the pulley B and over a pulley, it, upon the post 0 to the gate bar thereon, to which it is secured at the part A, and a Windlass, D, provided with dog mechanism Z Z and connected with the pulley B by means of a cable, D, the whole being constructed and arranged to operate substantially as described.

WILLIAM HANLEY. In presence of- MAsoN BROSS, EDWARD THARPE. 

